So, ride review time. I've got about 4 decent rides on this thing so far. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in. I knew the geometry, and roughly what the kinematics were - but graphs don't always translate to trail manners - so I was equal parts eager and apprehensive to get this thing on the trails and find out how it rode - and most importantly, to learn if it had any faults or foibles. I guess my expectations were that it would ride somwhere between "acceptably" and "well", but with only 100mm out back that it would prioritise climbing and feel a little lacking in travel on rocky descents. I've ridden a mate's Giant Trance 29er (115mm rear travel) in the past, and it definitely felt a bit like that. It was fast and efficient, and a bit of a magic carpet given the shortish travel, but it was really easy to bottom out over sharper hits or from landing jumps/drops - so I was expecting similar with the Carbonda. Maybe a little more progression in the linkage, but wasn't sure if that would just make it ride rougher over minor trail chatter.
Well, the good news is - I was wrong. This thing does not feel like a 100mm travel bike. In fact, it doesn't even feel like an XC bike.
Even though it's 120f/100r travel, it feels more like a 140f/120r bike while riding. I think a lot of this sensation comes down to the geometry. With the slack head angle (for this travel range) and long reach it makes the bike feel really confident at speed. Atypically, I've kept the bars pretty narrow (~755mm wide) to keep the reactiveness of a short-travel/XC-ish bike, but the head angle allows a more trail-bike-like centered body mass positioning and smooth corner carving, plus having the confidence to stay loose and let the bike dance around under you through (straight-ish) rock gardens. It's such a perk not having to worry you're going to bury the front wheel in some minor hole and get thrown OTB. The only minor struggle I've been having with the amount of travel is in a long curving rockgarden with several steps mid corner (the second main Cressy rock garden for those that know the You Yangs trails). On my 150mm bike I can push the bike "through" the lips of the steps, which gives a bunch of confidence (both of keeping the bike level off the lip, and of finding good grip for the front wheel as it touches down again), but on this it's more of a challenge as the suspension is already fairly far into the travel so pre-loading/not getting bucked on the lips of the step is hard to time well. But that's it - that's my "list" of negatives. One rock garden I've always found awkward, is now slightly more awkward. Boo-hoo.
As for the positives? (Comparing to riding a longer travel bike) Well this thing feels like you've unlocked a cheat code on climbs. It's (mostly carbon fibre) build keeps the weight pretty trim which really helps contribute to it's enthusiastic climbing manner. Even in open mode, the suspension is adequately supportive - but it's more of a Horst-link feel where the support comes from the spring, than say - a DW-link bike, where the support comes from the anti-squat/chain force. I personally much prefer the Horst-like feel this bike has, predominantly because the suspension is much more active when climbing - and doesn't get all kickbacky when tackling square edge rocks, sharp roots or riding
up braking bumps. So while it climbs acceptably well with the shock open, it's the other two modes where the bike really comes alive on the ascents. the middle 'Trail' mode is like a subtly modified 'Open' mode. It doesn't feel much different underfoot (or "under saddle" which might be a more relevant metric for most of my climbing) compared to Open mode, but it does subtly alter the balance of the bike. Whereas I like having the rear suspension setup
ever-so-slightly-softer than the fork for descending, it can mean suffering through a slightly doughy feeling on climbs (on any bike). This is where I really enjoy the middle 'Trail' mode on this bike. It just subtly removes that imbalance on climbs, and makes the rear of the bike feel balanced to the fork (remembering that your weight bias shifts rearward on climbs due to the incline of the trail, so "balanced" on a climb is actually a significant shift forward it weight distribution terms). This is the mode i have the shock set for 99% of singletrack climbing. I also use it on flatter trails, but have noticed it doesn't work well on trails with lots of rollers or jumps as it can make the fork feel too soft as the suspension response isn't balanced front-to-rear if it’s not pointing uphill. But the real "icing on the cake" for climbing is the lockout mode. It's a strange feeling - the lockout is so stiff (it's a 430lb blow-off compared to a more typical 340lb "trail" oriented shock lockout) in a quick carpark bounce test the bike almost feels like a hardtail once it hits sag point. There is a couple of perks with this compared to riding an actual hardtail though. Firstly, because that 'platform' from the lockout only happens at the sag point of the shock, if you get into some techy/rocky climbs where the back wheel of a hardtail might get bounced, lose traction and spin out (or the rider losing momentum managing the slip) - because the rear suspension can extend back out from the sag point, the wheel still tracks the ground and (at least partial) traction is maintained. On the other extreme, if you're climbing and hit a 'square edge' while seated, the 430lb blow-off circuit
just relieves and removes the harsh jolt an actual hardtail would transfer straight up your spine. This is the mode I use the other 1% of the time on singletrack climbs, and luckily having it remote actuated means I can just utilise it for the brief moments I want it, without having to leave it engaged for longer than I want (from reluctance to fumble around for the lever on the shock). This means I can really keep my legs in their happy cadence on sudden rocky pinches knowing I won't have the suspension get bogged down or hung up. It's the kind of thing where if it wasn't on a remote lever, I wouldn't bother with it - but having it all within reach of my left thumb - it's a quick flick to "click'n'climb", and just makes certain segments of trail so much easier. Having it there (feels like it) allows me to preserve some extra energy for later in the ride as I don’t have to dig into that “burst strength” reserve unless I fluff the line.
While I'd already taken it up and down hill on several rides before now, it wasn't until yesterday I got a chance to take it for a decent ride on flatter terrain as well. This kind of weaving/winding JRA singletrack is ironically often what I struggle with most. I often feel a out of balance, or like my body position is wrong or somesuch - but yesterday's ride revealed that this bike has a really comfortable, central body position on flat sections of trail. I even got to (accidentally) experience it's neutral handling manners a couple of times when I unexpectedly hit a few deep patches of soft sand. Typically with my other bikes on these same trails I've tended to feel the front-end (start to) wash out in these scenarios, but on this bike I'd say it was a pretty even affair. In reality, the front was winning the battle for traction if both wheels were slipping and it'd oversteer slightly, but that can be chalked up to the tyre combination of the DHR II up front and Rekon Race (XC semi-slick) out back. A more evenly spec’s tyre combo would've meant a more even two-wheeled drift (at a guess).
Overall, it's proving to be a really easy-to-live-with bike in pretty much all (my*) riding scenarios. I expected to be writing something along the lines of "decent for the price" in this part of the thread given the humble origins of the frame, but it's exceeded "decent" regardless of price bracket. It's a bloody excellent bike. It's got a nimbleness that belies it's 29" wheels - so with cheat-mode climbing, nippy handling and confident descending it's a real jack of all trades - and rather than "master of none", it's more like "master of
most", with only chunkier rocks or direction changes through rocks being a challenge. Given I normally assess and review my bikes by thinking about all the things I
don't like about them, it took me a while to work out how to write a review for this one given I'm almost entirely happy with it.
(*I'm not a double-black diamond type of rider. Australian "black diamond" trails are about my comfort zone, so blue trails with milder rock gardens and small jumps is about my limit. Hence me not needing "all the travel" of a big bike all the time, despite the fact they can still be a bunch of fun...)
A small side note for those looking at the bike with more pureblood XC intentions: how mine is setup with the 120mm fork and resultant trail-focused geometry - the front-end does wander quite a bit on steep climbs with loose gravel/fine gravel over hardpack. So while the back-end is a very capable ascender, if you're primarily focused on the ups, I'd consider sizing down a frame size (maybe even two sizes if you really like traditional XC geo) and running a 100mm fork to steepen things up a bit and get a bit more weight on the front wheel. For an all mountain/trail bike though, the 120mm fork is definitely the way to go, as it really lets you get off the brakes and carry some silly speed on the descents.
TL;DR. It's a ripper. Would buy again, 100% (although not in matte-black! It's a dust magnet and looks horrible when dirty!
)
